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June 6th Recent Photos Page |
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D-Day plus 65 years - Some scenes from Washington D.C. One of the Brass Team members also participates in Honor Flight's which arrange to take groups of veterans to Washington, DC. to visit many of the monuments on the National Mall. The way the program works is each veteran is paired with a running buddy for the day and together they explore the sites at each stop the bus makes. I was curious about how it worked and since it was D-Day I went downtown to meet his group instead of making the trip to NJ to work on the ship. It was a much shorter trip and I really enjoyed the day walking on the Mall. Below are a bunch of photos from that day, one on which I walked the entire length of the Mall twice, logging about 5 miles or so. Hope you enjoy coming along on my walking tour. |
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| These
are the veterans from New Jersey that I met up with at the World War II
Memorial. They were all "issued" Red Veteran T-Shirts to wear for the day. |
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| Here the Veterans are joined by their "buddies" all wearing their "issued" Blue Guardian T-Shirts. |
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| The
group brought along a USAF ROTC Honor Guard which escorted them into the World War II Memorial. Many of those visiting the memorial stopped and clapped as the veterans passed by, it was a nice tribute. |
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| The
Honor Guard setup next to the New Jersey pillar in the monument, where they remained until the veterans were ready to depart the area. |
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| Here is a shot of the center of the Memorial showing a bunch of the group. |
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| I
thought this was a nice touch, located in a very inconspicuous spot on the outside of the World War II Memorial is this "Kilroy was Here" graffiti, carved in granite for all to see forever, pretty cool! |
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| A
shot of the Lincoln Memorial looking from the far end of the famous Reflecting Pool which ends at the World War II Memorial. We'll be heading that way shortly. |
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| At
1:45 the gang from New Jersey boarded their busses to depart the area, so I was off to continue exploring on my own. On the way to the Lincoln Memorial I stopped by the Wall. |
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| This
is a statue near the Wall, the soldiers depicted here have the same "view" as seen in the photo above. |
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| Next
stop was the Lincoln Memorial. Before climbing the steps I stopped by a small stand to purchase a new pin for my hat (a Jolly Roger Flag Pin). This stand has been manned 24 / 7 for something like twenty years. They serve as a source of information for visitors to the Wall and sell all kinds of military related pins and insignia. I've bought several other pins there in the past and it's someplace I always stop when I visit the Mall. My hats off to the guys who operate that stand, keep up the good work gentlemen! |
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| Inside
the Memorial, this towering statue of Lincoln awaits, along with the text of the Gettysburg Address and his Second Inauguration Speech carved into the walls on either side of the statue. |
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| I
sat here between a pair of columns on the Lincoln memorial and put my new pin on my hat. Then, gazing down the Mall, I could see the World War II Memorial where my journey had started, and beyond, the dome of the Capital Building, which is where I was headed next. |
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| On
the way to the Capital we'll make a bunch of stops, the first is at the Korean War Memorial. When standing looking down the Mall to the Capital, this memorial is on the right side of the Reflecting Pool, while the Wall, is on the left side. When you approach from the Lincoln Memorial you come upon this Memorial from "behind" the group of soldiers depicted as being on patrol. It's almost like the last soldier in the formation hears you approaching and has turned around to check you out, pretty cool! |
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| Here,
we've walked completely around the formation and we're looking at the soldier on the point. |
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| Next
on the tour is this very cool little colonnaded Memorial erected to honor those citizens of the District of Columbia that were killed in World War I (or as the referred to it simply The World War). |
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| Here is a statue of John Paul Jones, not far from the Washington Monument. |
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| Now
we've passed the Washington Monument and are starting along the row of Smithsonian Museum buildings that dominate both sides of the Mall in the stretch from the Washington Monument to the Capital Building. This is the original Smithsonian Building, today it is referred to as The Castle. |
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| The
Mall has something for everyone, outside the Hirshhorn Museum is a Sculpture Garden and this interesting piece caught my eye. |
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OK,
now we're getting close to our destination, here is a shot of the |
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| One of the two statues flanking the large statue of U.S. Grant. |
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| The second of the two statues flanking the large statue of U.S. Grant. |
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| This
is a cool water fountain that is right in front of the wall
surrounding the Capital Building. It has been here forever I imagine, the first time I drank from it was back in 1975 when I first visited Washington D.C. on my own. I had another drink today, it still tastes pretty good! |
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| OK,
here we are at the steps of the Capital Building, we have arrived! By now it's close to 6:00 and time to head back to the Metro Station and catch the train home. |
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| On
the way back to the train station I just had to make one more stop, and that was at the Navy Memorial, another really cool place. |
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| Directly
across the street from the Navy Memorial is the National Archives Building, where among other things you can see the original Declaration of Independence and Richard Nixon's Resignation Letter. That is one classic facade, the Greeks would be proud! |
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| Statue of the "Lone Sailor" with his Sea Bag in the Navy Memorial's plaza. |
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| Supposedly
the water for the fountains at the Navy Memorial comes from the Seven Seas of the World. OK, I ran out of room on my digital cameras memory card so it was time to head for home. Hope you enjoyed this tour of the National Mall, without having to walk about 5 miles! |
